Trying to determine why it costs $3 million, including $400,000 in 'planning', to add 160 asphalt parking spots to a 5 year-old bus station. And if they're worth the trouble.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Our Second Bidder Completes Survey!

Michael Criscola, owner of the Crisdel Group, got back to us with some answers.

1) You had a mid-range bid at $3.04 million. Why is your bid lower or higher than others? Why would the government go with a higher bid?

Our number for this project was complete and in a better economy would more than likely have been competitive. Possibly it was higher than the low bidders to our overhead cost and the fact that we are an out of state contractor. The government would only go with a higher bid if the lower bid(s) were incomplete, that scenario is rare.2) How old is your firm?

40 years3) How many employees did you have on January 1, 2009? How many do you have now?

45 – 110. For our industry a better dates to compare would be July 08 vs July 09. We are a seasonal business, especially when asphalt is involved. January is most often are lowest payroll month, it’s a poor bench mark to use. [We had] 120 at our peak last year.4) How many employees will be working on this project? Will you hire any?

8-30 at any one time, including our subcontractors. Yes we would have had to hire some workers. 5) How much will be spent on paying your workers for this project?

$1,200,000. +/- including our subcontractors cost.6) How much will be spent on materials?

$1,300,000. +/- including our subcontractors cost.7) Do you do a lot of work for the government? How many projects in total?

Yes. This year 10+ projects.8) If you are awarded the project, when do you expect to begin and to finish?

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The Purpose of this Blog

To document the progress of a smallish taxpayer-funded stimulus project.

This one involves $2.6 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a $3 million project (including state dollars for design and planning) to beef up the existing Eltingville Transit Center park-and-ride in Staten Island by adding 160 new parking spots to the existing 225 spaces.

Some $32 million in ARRA dollars have been tucked aside for transportation projects in New York City so the Eltingville dig is absorbing about a tenth of the Big Apple's 'shovel ready' stim funds. The lot was originally built in 2004.

This oversight blog was launched July 2. The Department of Transportation expects to announce which bidding firm will complete the project by mid-August. That leaves a narrow 6-week window to determine whether, at $18,750 apiece, these babies are worth it before ground is broken.

Questions That Need Answering

1. Why did it cost the New York Department of Transportation $400,000 to "plan and design" 160 parking spots?

2. Why does the NYDOT estimate that it will cost $2.6 million in stimulus bucks to "build" 160 asphalt open air parking spots?

3. How much did it cost to build the Park and Ride in 2004 and why didn't they build more spots?

Partial Answer: The original lot cost $5.4M

4. Will the extra 160 parking spots be sufficient for a growing population?

5. Why didn't they build more parking spots in the first place?

6. What is Beaver Concrete doing next door to the Eltingville Park and Ride?